Ricoh Introduces the CX4

Ricoh Co., Ltd. (helmed by president and CEO Shiro Kondo) today announced the release of the new CX4 compact digital camera. This new design offers high-power (10.7×), wide-angle 28–300 mm optical zoom and improved image-sensor-shift image stabilization in a workmanlike yet stylish package.

The new CX4’s evolved image-sensor-shift image stabilization reduces blur on average by the equivalent of about 3.7 EV—3.7 shutter-speed stops—for improved performance under dim indoor lighting and at high zoom ratios.

The camera also offers a new “subject-tracking AF” autofocus system that automatically tracks your subject, ensuring that photographs are in focus and correctly exposed whenever you choose to release the shutter. You’ll find this feature indispensable for moving subjects and close-ups.

In addition, Ricoh has further developed features designed to enhance the photographic experience, including a “night landscape multi-shot mode” that combines four exposures into a single photograph for reduced image noise, and a “creative shooting mode” that brings out the artist in everyone with soft focus, cross process, and toy camera effects. With portability enhanced by a newly-designed body featuring molded curves that make it easier to slip the camera into your pocket, the CX4 compact digital camera represents another advance in Ricoh’s philosophy of designing “A tool you will want to use every day.”

<Principal Features of the New CX4 Compact Digital Camera>

1. High sensitivity, low noise photography using improved blur reduction and high-performance noise reduction for clear, high-quality results at high zoom ratios and under low light

• The CX4 offers completely reworked image-sensor-shift image stabilization, which reduces blur caused by camera movement—a phenomenon that is particularly likely to occur in close ups, at high zoom ratios, and in other similar situations. The effect is equivalent to increasing shutter speed by an average of about 3.7 stops.

• The camera’s noise reduction algorithm processes the image signal as it is output from the CMOS image sensor, reducing noise without affecting resolution, tone, or color. Setting noise reduction to “MAX” enables variance-estimation noise reduction that analyzes the distribution of noise in the data captured by the image sensor and optimizes processing for individual areas of the image.

• With picture angles that range from 28 mm (wide angle) to 300 mm (telephoto), this high-power zoom lens is adapted to almost any situation. Choose wide angles for landscapes or cramped interiors that limit the distance between camera and subject, or zoom in for compelling telephoto shots.

3. An autofocus system that automatically tracks the subject (subject-tracking AF)• Subject-tracking AF automatically tracks the subject selected when the shutter-release button is pressed halfway, ensuring that photographs are in focus and correctly exposed whenever you choose to release the shutter. This feature is ideal for shots of active children and pets, as well as for photographs of flowers and other subjects that demand careful composition.

4. A “creative shooting mode” that offers a choice of six artistic effects• Choose “soft focus mode” for an effect similar to that produced by soft-focus lenses. The strength of the effect can be selected from “weak” and “strong.”

• Select “cross-process mode” for colors that differ markedly from those in normal photographs. Choose a color scheme from “basic,” “magenta,” and “yellow.”

• “Toy camera mode” replicates the sharp contrast and saturated colours associated with toy cameras, together with their characteristic distortion and vignetting.

• The CX4 also offers the “dynamic range double shot,” “miniaturize,” and “high-contrast B&W” modes made popular by the CX3.

• Multi-pattern auto white balance produces colors close to those seen by the human eye in portraits shot in a mixture of sunlight and shade or with both the flash and natural light. High-contrast scenes like these often prove challenging for other, less advanced white-balance algorithms.

6. Eleven scene modes that make it easy to adjust settings to suit your subject• The CX4 features a new “night landscape multi-shot” mode that creates clear, beautiful photos of night scenes by automatically and precisely combining a series of exposures shot at high sensitivities to reduce the blur and noise normally associated with pictures taken under low light, allowing photographers to taste the joys of hand-held, tripod-free night photography.

• The eleven scene modes that were so well-received by users of the CX3—including “pets mode” for portraits of your favorite pet cat—are also included in the CX4.

7. A 920,000-dot, 3.0-inch high-definition VGA monitor

• The large, high-resolution LCD monitor boasts high contrast and a wide viewing angle. A fluorine coating keeps the monitor free of stains, while a hard coating and anti-reflection coating prevent scratches and ensure that the display in the monitor is clearly visible even outdoors in bright sunlight.

• Wide-gamut color reproduction (100% of sRGB) ensures that colors are displayed vividly and with high fidelity.

8. Many other features that reflect Ricoh’s design philosophy: “A tool you will want to use every day”

• The CX4 offers high burst rates of about 5 frames per second (fps) during continuous shooting.

• Macro mode can be used to take photos at distances as close as 1 cm when the camera is zoomed out to a focal length equivalent to 31 mm in 35 mm format, or at distances as close as 28 cm when the camera is zoomed all the way in.

• “Scene auto mode” offers the ultimate in “point-and-shoot” photography: just point the CX4 at your subject and let the camera optimize settings for best results.

• The camera can record HD movies with a frame size of 1,280 × 720 pixels.

* All focal lengths in this news release have been converted to 35 mm format.* All instances of “MP files” refer to “Extended MP files” in a format that conforms to the CIPA “multi-picture format” standard (extension “.MPO”). The CX4 can extract selected frames from MP files and save them in JPEG format.

Zoom Magnification:Optical: 10.7x zoom (equivalent to 28-300 mm focal length for 35 mm cameras)Digital: 4.8x up to 51.4x (equivalent to 1440 mm) when used with optical zoom Auto Resize: 5.7x*1 up to 61.0x*1 (equivalent to 1710 mm) when used with optical zoom

*3. Values measured under Ricoh measurement conditions using a Panasonic PRO HIGH SPEED 8GB SDHC memory card. The continuous shooting speed and number of pictures will vary depending on the shooting conditions, the type of recording media used, the condition of the recording media, etc.

*4. The picture quality modes which can be set vary depending on the image size.

*5. All figures are approximate.

*6. Individual movies can be up to 4 GB in size. Approximate maximum length is 12 minutes for movies with a frame size of 1280×720 and 29 minutes for movies with a frame size of 640×480 or 320×240.

*7. Compatible with DCF and DPOF. DCF is the abbreviation of the JEITA standard “Design rule for Camera File system.” (Full compatibility with other devices is not guaranteed.)